Leaning Into the Messy Togetherness

During our second pilot of The Colossian Way, Iâ€™ve had the unique privilege of participating in one group, leading another, and coaching leaders of two other groups. I relish this time with fellow believers and participants in The Colossian Way.

In one session, we opened with a reflection on Ephesians 4. After describing all Christ has done for us in the precedingÂ chapters, Paul urges us in this chapter to live worthy of our calling by taking up humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance in order to maintain our unity. Our group discussed these virtues fruitfully and then committed to practice them together. Soon after, we watched a video on the sexuality topic which voiced a viewpoint completely opposite to some of our participants. One member of the group took offense. She was frustrated with the viewpoint, felt it as an attack, and understandably wanted some time to process and respond.

My temperature immediately went up. Couldnâ€™t this group member listen to the speaker rather than attack? What about our recent commitment to express humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance? Like a protective parent, I immediately rushed to the defense of The Colossian Way program. In my hasty approach, I displayed none of the fruit of the Spirit we had just discussed.

Fortunately for me, the leaders of the group had cooler heads, and they diffused the situation by gentlyÂ asking questions: â€śDo we need to decide if heâ€™s right or wrong? Or can we just try to hear him? Do we need to defend him or argue against him? What might humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance look like for us here tonight, together?â€ť

Talk about a â€ścome to Jesusâ€ť moment. This is why we canâ€™t do this alone.

Yet, I fear that most participants entering The Colossian Way will look to avoid the messy togetherness. Instead, they will begin the experience with the false expectation theyâ€™re going to delve deeply into the mysteries of human sexuality and scriptural interpretation, and argue their way through to a commonly held answer. But fully engaging a topic as complex as sexual identity in ten weeks is a fantasy that will derail whatâ€™s supposed to be happening: growing a Christian community that acts like Christ in the midst of tough cultural conflicts. Then again, my own fears about how the program might fail may also derail whatâ€™s supposed to be happening!

There are many ways we can fail in these conversations. But in the very act of joining together and bumping up against each otherâ€™s folly, every failure has the potential to be a moment of grace, a moment of insight, a moment to encounter Godâ€™s reconciling power and love for us right in the middle of our muddle. I am so grateful for those wise souls who are able, in that messy middle, to see Jesus and point us to him. What a joy to be with such folks.

And as our work moves beyond the pilot phase and launches this May in churches across the country, I yearn to see how God works in others to take up this vision of a Christian community that acts like Christ, especially during these times of conflict and polarization. We might just come to realize how desperately we, and our world, need the other in the midst of community to cultivate the virtues of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. We covet your prayers as we move into this new phase of our mission at The Colossian Forum.

This post is excerpted from our March prayer letter. To receive the prayer letter in your inbox, click on the button below.

If you're inspired by our mission to transform messy situations into opportunities for spiritual growth and witness, have administrative gifts and a strong attention to detail, you might be a great fit for us here at The Colossian Forum. We currently have an opening for a full-time Project and Administrative Coordinator in our Grand Rapids office. The key components of this position include: Communication with internal and external partners Database administration (Salesforce experience is a plus!) Event coordination Financial and office administration You can read more about the responsibilities, qualifications, and how to apply on our jobs page. Applications and cover letters will be accepted through February 28. And yes, we are serious about applicants including a cover letter with the resume.

The Colossian Forum equips leaders to transform messy cultural conflicts into opportunities for spiritual growth and witness. Our vision: a Christian community that acts Christian, especially in the face of conflict.